SWEET HARMONIES from the Cashel Community School choir soared through the remains of a Gothic cathedral as Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary yesterday.

“May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be at your back,” the students sang to the monarch who, on the final day of this historic visit, looked relaxed and elegant in yet another crowd-pleasing shade of green.

The most visited heritage site in the country, said to originally be the seat of the Munster kings, provided a picture postcard and deeply atmospheric backdrop to this part of the royal itinerary.

Squawking birds flew through the nooks and crannies of the imposing cathedral. Patches of sky were visible from the mostly roofless structure, shifting from blue to grey and back to blue again.

Earlier, the changeable weather had cast doubt on whether the Queen would be arriving by air as planned but, in the end, the maroon-coloured royal helicopter touched down in a field close to the Rock at about 10.45am.